to prep for the first of the three debates that they will have starting tomorrow night in denver. republicans are hoping it will be a game changer for their nominee who right now trails the president in every battleground state. nbc's brian mooar joins us from washington with all of those details. brian, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. for both campaigns this debate brings both challenge and opportunity. as denver gets ready for tomorrow night's first presidential debate, so are the candidates. >> it'll be a conversation with the american people that will span almost an entire month. we'll get to describe our respective views. >> reporter: romney is hoping to pick up a few votes with an endorsement from football great john elway. president obama is taking the personal approach to nail down votes. >> this is barack obama. >> reporter: and like romney, the president sees this debate as a chance to talk to america. >> it's a choice between two different paths for this country. it's a choice between two fundamentally different visions for our nation. >> reporter: